BoS backs data center industry on substations, rejects residents’ concerns
The Edsall substation adjacent to a data center planned for the Plaza 500 site in the Bren Mar Park area will most likely be developed without the protections sought by nearby residents.
The Board of Supervisors passed a zoning ordinance on electric substations on a 9-0 vote on Dec. 9 that rejects the recommendations of the Planning Commission that called for increasing the setback requirements and would have imposed a more rigorous approval process.
Residents’ concerns ignored
The board action is “extremely disappointing,” said Tyler Ray, president of the Bren Pointe HOA and a leader of the Save Bren Mar coalition.
“The public hearing was a complete a farce. They disregarded the comments from community members who live next to the site and went along with what the data center industry wanted,” Ray said.
The supervisors not only rejected the Planning Commission recommendations, they made the ordinance even more favorable to utilities and developers.
The Planning Commission had proposed a 200-foot buffer between substations and residential-zoned areas. The board approved a motion offered by Supervisor Kathy Smith (Sully) that sets a buffer of 100 feet. A motion by Supervisor Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill) for a 150-foot buffer was rejected.
The current plan for the Edsall substation puts it just 67 feet from homes in Bren Pointe, with a high-voltage transmission line even closer.
A huge win for data centers
The new ordinance takes effect on Dec. 10. The Save Bren Mar coalition had urged the board to support the Planning Commission recommendations and also urged the board to add a provision stating that substation applications not yet approved would have to comply with the new ordinance.
The board not only rejected that proposal but expanded the grace period from six months to two years.
The supervisors rejected the Planning Commission’s proposal to require substations proposed in areas zoned I-3 and I-4 to go through a zoning special exception process. They went even further by dropping the special exception requirement for I-5 and I-6 districts. The Edsall site is zoned I-3.
That means all substation applications now will go through an administrative approval process, which doesn’t require a public hearing.
Smith’s motion also rejected the Planning Commission’s recommendation calling for substations to be co-located with an existing substation if they are within a mile of the data center they would serve. That would have meant the substation for the Plaza 500 data center could have been located at the Van Dorn substation, which is not near people’s homes.
Ray is particularly disappointed that Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez, whose district includes Bren Mar Park, “went along with the rest of the board and didn’t acknowledge the impact on the community.”
Countywide implications
The board’s decision “should raise alarm bells for all Fairfax County residents,” Ray said. In rejecting the Planning Commission recommendations, the board “hand-delivered to the data center industry a substation zoning ordinance that will let massive substations for data centers proliferate countywide, regardless of the impact to residents.”
“Adding insult to injury,” he said, “the board gave special treatment to pending public utility applications, ensuring they will not have to follow even the new weak standards. The voices and recommendations of constituents and the Planning Commission were silenced. The board has shown that the data center industry is leading the county’s land use policy.”
Related story: Substation zoning restrictions would impact the Plaza 500 data center
More than 50 people spoke at the hearing. About half of them were Bren Mar Park residents who urged the board to adopt the zoning amendment proposed by the Planning Commission. They also urged the board, unsuccessfully it turned out, to apply the new ordinance to unapproved projects in the pipeline.
“With my energy costs increasing because of the need for new substations, the Board of Supervisors should not allow more substations without passing protections that apply to all residents,” one Bren Pointe resident said. “As ratepayers, we are all paying for these substations.”
“This is our home. This is our future,” said Kristin Gomez, whose Bren Pointe home backs up to the proposed transmission line. “Save our neighborhood, not our businesses.”
Bren Mar Park resident Alicia Campos urged the board to require massive substations, like the one proposed in her neighborhood, to be at least 300 feet from residents and urged the board to require unapproved substations to comply with the new rules.
Campos noted the CEO of Starwood Capital, the developer of the Edsall data center, lives in a $50 million house in a gated community in Miami. “Companies like Starwood aren’t making decisions to support us. They just want to make people already rich richer,” she said. “Please listen to the people you actually represent.”
Businesses need power
Most of those who opposed the Planning Commission amendment represented the data center industry and other business interests. Non-Bren Mar Park residents who’ve been subjected to lobbying efforts by data center proponents claimed the amendment would lead to higher energy costs.
“Businesses need reliable power. Without new substations, Fairfax County won’t be able to attract new businesses,” said Nicole Riley, director of government affairs at the National Data Center Coalition.
According to Terry Clower, director of the Center of Regional Analysis at GMU, the most important factors in attracting businesses are the availability and cost of utilities and the reduction of regulatory impediments. He urged the board to “keep Fairfax County as economically competitive as possible.”
Another opponent of the amendment, James Leach, a member of the board of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, claimed it “could significantly limit Fairfax County’s ability to maintain the reliable infrastructure businesses rely on.”
No viable options
The final opportunity the Bren Mar Park community has to push for higher standards is the state-required 2232 public facilities review process, which determines if a project is consistent with a county’s Comprehensive Plan.
“The Board of Supervisors’ repeated action of ignoring the Planning Commission’s recommendations on the data center and the electrical substation ordinances raises doubt as to whether a fair 2232 review process is possible in Fairfax County,” Ray said after the hearing.
“Even if the Planning Commission were to deny the 2232 review, the Board of Supervisors could do exactly as they did last night and give in to the fearmongering of a data center developer and Dominion Energy,” he said.
The Edsall substation would not only harm residents, it would have a negative impact on the environment.
Whitney Redding, co-founder of Friends of Holmes Run, said the 100-foot-tall transmission lines serving the Edsall substation would lead to diminished water quality and wildlife at the Turkeycock Stream Valley and Backlick Run.
If the board declines to support stricter rules for substations, Rene Grebe of Nature Forward predicted declining property values for residents and “neighborhoods people don’t want to move to.”
Ok – I don’t think much of you people that keep voting for Democrats and then wine about the results – but here is a tip – once your houses start diminishing in value – hire a lawyer and see what they say about suing Fairfax under the “taking” clause….
Because nothing says opportunity like a 230 kV transformer outside your bedroom window.
The Fairfax Board of Supervisors has once again honored the oldest law of County government: when forced to choose between residents and revenue, residents lose every time.
The Zoning Board’s recommendations for the Edsall substation didn’t just get rejected, they were incinerated. Perhaps the pages combusted under the same electrical load the County insists we can safely cram into the grid.
Neighbors near the site should prepare for their new “amenity.” Not a pool. Not a park. Not even a garden. Instead, they will host a humming monument to Fairfax’s planning philosophy: a transformer that drones louder than the Board’s conscience.
And the Supervisors’ silence is immaculate. Their refusal to answer resident concerns is so absolute it resembles a vow of monastic detachment. Except monks are known for compassion. The Board is known for rubber-stamping whatever Dominion and the data center lobby slide across the table, provided it comes with a tax projection.
When residents ask about safety, property values, or whether the grid can even handle this, the Board replies with its standard liturgy: Thank you for your email. We regret your tone. We have nothing else to add.
So here we stand. The Zoning Board tried to draw a line. The Supervisors erased it, paved it, and gifted the community a high-voltage consolation prize. At this pace, the next logical step is to install substations directly inside living rooms. At least then the Board could finally claim they have achieved “community engagement.”
And here’s a Dumb & Dumber thought perhaps lurking somewhere in BoS thinking….”hmm, reduced Bren Mar Pk property values means [we’ll move closer to seeing] “affordable” housing and we can claim credit; we need to do much more of that!” On the Mason District front – Jimenez eagerly promotes district cultural arts and goes silent on this very real quality-of-life issue. Ah yes – shining Democrat “values” in full view on this one. But wait! Not much longer will there be even an inkling of public transparency with the switch-up to an administrative approval process – “we won’t have to hear from residents anymore…it’s sooo time-consuming”.
not a bad thought process…………. LOL
This Board is reckless.
This seems like an instance where each board member should have voted as if he/she were an affected resident. I doubt the outcome would’ve been the same.
Supervisors are up for re-election in November 2027.
I’m hardly an expert on this issue, but it looks like Jimenez has disappointed again – waiting for the next primary.
Jimenez won’t answer an email; what makes anyone think he would take a principled stand under pressure?
This is so “on brand” for the BoS. Gave themselves a raise AND raised property taxes and can barely execute on the basics. Maybe we need a county executive like Montgomery county MD or more fully independent municipalities without the double taxation?